THE BIG YELLOW BOX
A pen-pal program designed to build compassion between American kids of different backgrounds.
We live in an infinitely subdivided nation. Americans are rich and poor, urban and rural, liberal and conservative, black and white.
Too often, our many national identities distrust each other and fail to listen to voices from other communities.
There's an obvious lack of empathy and communication between our nation's beautifully diverse demographics.
That's where
The Big Yellow Box comes in.
Our goal is to plant seeds of curiosity and compassion across the many contrasting cultures and communities exiting in the United States. We do this by connecting groups of American kids as pen-pals, with pairings based on differences rather than traditional compatibility.
Everything you need to sow the seeds of compassion.
The Big Yellow Box is an all-inclusive kit that includes envelopes, stationary, a polaroid camera, film, tape, and “Experience Cards” which combine photography with simple prompts, as an easy way for a kid to show their pen-pal a glimpse into their day-to-day life.
Teacher-led, kid driven.
Every two weeks, each kid in the program writes their pen-pal a letter, fills out an experience card with an attached photo—taken with the supplied polaroid camera—and puts it in an envelope.
The envelopes are collected by the teacher or guardian and sent out in a mailer to their pen-pal partner school.
Online Experience
Sign-up and details can be found on The Big Yellow Box website. Users visit to read more about our mission, pen-pal pairings, and how to use the kit before submitting a sign-up form.
The Pairing Profiles page shows a number of successful matches, providing valuable examples of how the Big Yellow Box pairs classrooms of varying ways of life.
Getting the parents on board.
Participating schools send a folder home with students eligible to participate in the program. The folder contains a permission slip and a short book that explains our philosophy, mission, and how we work to make a difference.
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